A hard wind blows from the north and drives me down along the coast much quicker than expected. On the larger roads going 30 km/h is no problem and the fairly heavy traffic doesn’t bother that much at this speed. Only the many traffic lights slow me down.
Lloret de Mar looks like an absolute tourist trap, so I just breeze through. I take a few breaks along the way due to heavy rainfall but overall it’s so windy and warm that I dry off very quickly after each shower.
In the outskirts of Barcelona at 4 p.m. the town seems ghostly with only a few people on the streets and almost none in the many small parks, probably due to the light rain.
I ride around and up the very steep roads around the Park de Guinardó and Park Güell. With the bike in tow I’m a bit encumbered, but I get great views over the city.
Going to the other side of town in el Poble-sec to my AirBnB takes almost 45 minutes, which illustrates the size of the city nicely.
Barcelona is by the way the most bicycle-friendly major city I’ve seen. They’ve converted many streets to one-way traffic and used the second lane for parking and a bike lane. This way, cyclists are separated from the traffic, a concept that still has to find its place in German city planning. In other places there’s a curb or other kind of solid separation between cars and cyclists.
The bicycle sharing seems to work well here, too. Bike stations are at almost every corner and they appear to be well used.
My host Brian is a very nice Irishman and there are three Scottish guys staying here, too. The place has a fantastic view over the city!
The Scots and I go out for a drink, but at some point I loose them in the heavy Barcelona night life.
